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I went to hand him the glass and then put it on the counter instead. No touching anyone until I got an idea of what had happened.
His gaze went to my hand. If he’d wondered why I was afraid to touch him before, he’d probably figured it out by now.
“I’m assuming by how badly you were rattled this morning, you’ve never had an encounter like that before?” He drank his water, watching me.
“No. Nothing like that ever happened before. Everything was normal until…the change.”
“You say that as if there are other things that are strange.”
He was watching me keenly, and I had to keep my eyes fixed ahead so I didn’t look at Jaysa and Widow Herbert, who were both now at the kitchen table.
“If I have to go on any more walks, we might have to delve a little deeper,” he warned.
That’s it?He’d covered up my crime, and now all he was doing was warning me he might have to delve deeper if I went on another murdering spree?
“That’s—understandable.” Actually, it was quite gracious. Was gracious the correct word for this? It was certainly something more than “understandable.”
“You know, even with the situation cleared up, this isn’t going to go away.” He crossed his arms, staring at me quite seriously.
“He’s got that right,” Jaysa said from the table.
“I didn’t think it would,” I said.
“You’re likely to be the first they question. Of course, you had nothing to do with it,” he said, watching me with a new determination. “How could you have, when you were with me?” He spoke in a calm, even tone that had the determination of a cult leader telling his followers what they were going to believe, or at least swear to.
He didn’t need to work that hard. I was an easy sell.
“With you…” I nodded.
“We ran into each other in the woods. You were showing me some of the nicer trails to follow.” He leaned closer until we were mere inches apart. “You’d barely made it into the woods when we happened upon each other, and I was with you the entire time.”
“People will get the impression that…”
“Which is much better than the truth.”
I nodded. Duncan’s being jealous or getting the side-eye from pack members who thought I shouldn’t be dallying with the new alpha weren’t my biggest issues anymore. I’d rather this entire pack thought I was alpha-hopping than what I’d truly done.
“Groza won’t believe it. She’s going to know it was me, even if she can’t prove it. She’ll know.”
“Tell her to come to me. Let her call me out on it.” He looked as if he’d enjoy such a confrontation.
It was such a change from what I was used to around here. Even when we first arrived here, Duncan had me walk in next to Buddie, knowing how it would look. He had always tried to appease Groza.
Everyone groveled to her—but not Kicks.
“I’m going to go see if I pick up any whispers. Try to act normal.”
Jaysa was huffing in the corner, as if that was never going to happen.
Chapter Fourteen
I’d stretched,breathed deeply, and done every calming thing I could think up, yet still felt like a jack-in-the-box with an overwound spring. There was no way to walk into this roast and not show my carnival colors.
My two companions were watching me, giving each other the side-eye. Even the dead were judgmental around here.
“There’s a good chance Groza will have noticed them missing by now,” Widow Herbert said. “Youhaveto act normal.”
“Those two didn’t have kin,” Jaysa said. “There’s a chance no one will go searching for them until tomorrow. You have to do this—start adjusting now before everyone starts examining your every move. Holing up in the cottage will be like writing an admission.”
